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Developing Strategies for Reaching Cities Ken L. Davis

A Paper Prepared for Dr. Roger Greenway

Urban Strategies Class @ TEDS, July, 1999

It is popular, because of accessible global travel and instant world news, to refer to our

modern world as a “global village.” It would seem to be more correct, however, to speak of the

world as a “global city.”

The Urban Challenge

Today more than half the world population lives in cities. In 1900 only 8 percent did. The

spectacular growth of large cities on our planet creates an awesome challenge to the Christian

Church on all six continents. There are presently 300 cities of over a million people and within

20 years there will be 570. It is projected that by the end of the next century, two-thirds of the

world will live in one of 1,660 mega cities of over a million residents each. That is phenomenal

growth from only one mega city in the 19th century (Barrett 1986). Clearly a Sovereign God is

urbanizing the world.

Much of this exploding urban growth has been in giant cities located in the Two-thirds

world. Of the seven cities in 1950 with over 5 million residents, only two were in Asia, Africa, or

Latin America. By 1985, 22 of the 34 giant cities were in the developing world. By 2020 it is

estimated that the Two-thirds world will be home to 80 of our globe’s 93 giant cities (Fox 1984,

179-85). Towns are becoming cities, cities are becoming metropolises, and metropolises are

becoming megapolises. Everywhere we look there are people, people, people – lost people who

need to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. What will be the Church’s response?

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Cities in the developing world are also continuing to expand, though more slowly. By the

year 2000 Los Angeles will be a metropolis of over 14 million. Metro New York will be almost

20 million, Paris over 10 million, and Tokyo almost 24 million (Bakke 1997, 84). Three out of

four Americans now live in an urban center of 50,000 or more. Half of all Americans live in just

40 metropolitan areas, and over half of these people are unchurched. When Jesus saw the urban

multitudes, He was moved with compassion on them. Do we care?

America’s cities are a vast mosaic of diverse cultures, languages and ethnic makeup. Detroit,

for example has 100 ethnic groups. Often each group is separated from the others by invisible

boundaries. Our nation’s cities are home to 60 million culturally distinct peoples. Three-fourths

of these are non-Christians. A Sovereign God is literally bringing the mission fields of the world

to America’s urban doorstep! In a few years 50 of our largest cities will be predominately

minority, people of color. Will evangelical Christians continue to respond to our urban

“Samarias” with benign neglect? Or will we face these urban realities with carefully thought-out

strategies of outreach?

Strategy Defended

In the past, many Christian leaders and missionaries shunned strategy planning. Some felt

strategic planning was incompatible with the belief in the sovereignty of God. Others contended

it left out dependency upon the leading of the Holy Spirit, quenching His work. Both objections

were wrong. A Sovereign God has always chosen to use human instruments to do His work. The

divine-human cooperative in spreading the gospel is clearly seen in Scripture (I Cor. 3:6, 7,etc.).

In Christian service we are to be prayerful and Spirit-controlled. But we are also permitted, yes

even expected, to use our full “human energy and faculties.” As missiologist Peter Wagner

rightly reminds us, part of God’s leading, as creatures made in his image, “consists of His using

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our powers of reason to accomplish His will” (Wagner 1987, 23-4). Our Savior commands us to

love the Father with all our heart and soul and mind (Matt. 22:37).

Provided God’s servants have the proper relationship with Him, we are free to

plan strategy using the methods and technology that will best accomplish the work

of God in the world. The Father is interested enough in what we are doing to

intervene, redirect and correct as necessary. (Wagner 1987, 23-4)

We must prayerfully commit all of our strategic planning to the sovereign out working of

His global purposes (see James 4:13-17), but then fully use our “sanctified common sense” to

advance His kingdom work. In the Old Testament, Proverbs repeatedly commends those who do

wise planning (16:9; 13:16,19; 18:15). And in the New Testament, the model urban missionary

Paul was very flexible (Yes, even “pragmatic”!) in his strategic choice of evangelistic

methodologies (see I Cor. 9:19-23). Clearly Christian missionaries today must be strategists as

well.

Strategic planning, like prayer, is the advance work of the kingdom. Before we deploy

personnel it is absolutely essential we develop our master plan. We must estimate the cost before

we build; we must count the size/strength of our army before going to battle (Luke 14:28-33).

Strategy Defined

What, then, is strategy? Wagner, in simple terms, defines it as “the chosen means to

accomplish a predetermined goal” (1987, 26). So an urban strategy is a carefully devised plan to

accomplish biblical objectives and to reach cities for Christ. “A strategy is an overall approach,

plan, or way of describing how we will go about reaching our goal or solving our problem”

(Dayton and Fraser 1990, 13).

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Normally strategy is preceded by intensive research. We must secure demographic data,

identify needy target groups, test their receptivity to the Gospel, analyze current urban and

projected growth patterns, etc. We ask, “What has been happening in this city? Why has it been

happening?” Strategy, then, takes this raw material of preliminary and diagnostic research and

“gives it purpose and direction” (Conn 1997, 69). Obviously the better we understand the city,

urban growth patterns and their significance, the better strategists we will be. Timothy Monsma

explains,

Knowledge of urban dynamics will . . .

1. Aid in initiating work in new areas, e.g. , growth rates, ethnic makeup, etc.

2. Aid in obtaining land or buildings (buying before the prices rise due to expanding

population).

3. Aid in distributing workers wisely, e.g., where growth is most rapid, etc.

4. Help determine which special ministries ought to be used. (Monsma 1977, 13-14)

It is obvious from this that urban research studies and surveys are only beneficial when they lead

us to a plan of action, i.e. an urban strategy.

Conn reminds us that strategy planning is ultimately a hope-filled exercise of discrimination

and of faith which should “become the first step in evangelism” (75-7). Hence it is eminently

practical and not mere abstract theorizing.

Advantages of Strategy

Why is a carefully articulated strategy so beneficial to urban workers and leaders? It helps us

agree upon priorities and then wisely allocate our resources. As good stewards we want to avoid

needless expenditures of time, energy and finances. Strategy helps us determine where and how

to begin our work for God in a huge city. Clearly, if we fail to plan, we are planning to fail. We

will often flounder around in uncertainty with the felt needs of a massive city shouting at us from

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all sides. Peter Wagner gives six additional advantages to having a solid strategy, all of which

certainly apply to urban missions. First, a strategy “increases efficiency,” helping us decide what

to do and what not to do. Second, a strategy “helps measure effectiveness,” clarifying our

objectives so we can see if and when we have fulfilled them. Third, strategy “permits mid-course

correction,” giving us checkpoints to regularly reassess our methodology. Fourth, strategy “unites

the team,” showing each urban worker what he/she is expected to do. Fifth, strategy “makes

accountability natural.” Finally, a successful strategy can serve as a training model, helping

others undertake similar tasks (1987, 32-33).

Besides these practical benefits of strategic planning, there is a surprising spiritual one as

well. Harvie Conn reminds us that God-centered planning promotes “awe and reverence.” Rather

than being overwhelmed and alarmed at the immensity of the task awaiting us in our giant cities,

we must be driven to our Great Commissioner who gives us great promises of urban success and

penetration (see Deut. 6:1; Numbers 14:9; Acts 18:9-10). Conn (1997, 78) admonished us to fear

God not big cities:

Reverence guards us from technological arrogance; awe moves us to humility

Strategy planning calls us to worship. Jerichos, no matter how strong they look to

the strategists, fall like houses of cards when we are ready to shout, “The Lord has

given you the city” (Josh. 6:16).

Needed: A Comprehensive Urban Strategy

Because urban centers often are so massive and heterogeneous, a multi-faceted strategy

plan will normally be required. No one strategy will suffice. There is no “right” strategy for

every city. No standard pre-packaged approach will do. Custom-made strategies may be essential

for each city, especially for “world-class” mega cities (defined as an international, cosmopolitan

urban center with a million or more population). Church planter Ben Sawatsky explains,

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Their unique nature and staggering needs require a carefully laid plan. We

must minister to the city as well in the city . . . . Traditional strategies which call

for the purchase of land and the erection of buildings are costly, not frequently

repeatable, and beyond the reach of national church bodies. We need innovative

and contextualized church planting strategies for the world class cities frontier.

(1985, 8)

Each section of the city, each ethnic people group, “each high rise, each squatter settlement has

its own character and should be studied individually. Language, culture, family composition,

employment – all these have a way of impinging on the strategy that is applied and the character

of the church that emerges” (Allen 1986, 11).

Obviously, great wisdom is needed to arrive at effective urban strategies. Only the Lord God

can ultimately equip us for this challenging task. And the place to start is not sociology but

theology. Ray Bakke reminds us that “the biblical resources are as vast as the exploding cities

themselves. Indeed the more than 1,200 references to cities are but a starting point for

discovering God’s urban agenda. We must be prepared to research the totality of the creative and

redemptive themes of both Testaments” (1997, 80). Because the Scriptures and history reveal a

Creator God who for 40 centuries has been building cities, we can “reflect upon God’s mission in

the world and humbly inquire about his sovereign purposes in the radical, even awesome,

urbanization of the world in our time.” We also have the record in the Acts of the urban

missionary outreach of the early churches and apostles. Paul, for example, “had a veritable tool

kit of urban evangelistic strategies” (Bakke 1997, 80).

Numerous urban strategies are being proposed, tested and refined today. The sheer number

of proposals is, at times, bewildering. Ray Bakke, in an earlier work, lists sixteen strategies for

urban mission. He then adds this insightful comment, “The mere existence of models and

strategies does not guarantee health and vitality. Some cities have them in place, but they are not

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functioning in the strong name of Jesus Christ with vision, compassion and competence” (1987,

192-3). Obviously, each suggested strategy needs to be evaluated according to biblical principles

and priorities. The ultimate question must be: Is this master plan, when implemented well,

resulting in lost urbanites coming to Christ, new believers discipled, and new churches

established? The Great Commission, at its very core, mandates us to “do missions” with this

threefold objective. Furthermore it is the author’s firm conviction that church planting is the most

effective tool for evangelism and discipleship ever created. With these fundamental

presuppositions in mind, we will now quickly review five of the most promising urban church

planting strategies. Space will not permit us to give exhaustive descriptions of each. Our purpose

will be to prompt the inquiring reader to seek out the original source.

Five Model Strategies

First, is the Training Team Model. The core of this strategy, as successfully implemented by

the E.F.C.A. in Malaysia, and later described by missionary Ben Sawatsky, is:

A team of missionaries (and eventually nationals) representing a constellation of

complementary gifts, skills, training and experience, will work together to achieve

a common objective, the equipping of a plurality of locally based church planting

teams which in turn will plant local churches. This strategy, as developed by our

mission, calls for a team of trainers equipping teams of church planters with the

view to “planting” and “watering” local churches. (1985, 8)

The key to this approach is found in the fact that the team of trainers does very little direct

evangelism and church planting, except where necessary to model various ministry skills, or to

encourage and enhance local leaders’ efforts. The team of trainees, mostly layman, are carefully

recruited out of a local parenting church. They pursue a rigorous training cycle at an accessible

training center designed to provide classes, counseling, materials and resources for church

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planting/growth. The E.F.C.A. uses an intensive four-phased five-year training program to equip

national church planting teams while they are starting the new churches. Each new congregation

is expected to develop a holistic urban ministry, be family-focused, aggressively evangelistic,

small group-oriented, targeting the upwardly mobile middle-class, be content with being a mid-

sized church, and planning on giving birth to a daughter church every five years (1985, 8-19)!

Two other groups have successfully used modified versions of this basic model. In the

Dominican Republic the Christian Reformed Church has seen this “Training Center” model grow

over 200 new churches in ten year span (Greenway n.d., Model #15). The Alliance for

Saturation Church Planting, a coalition of over 60 missions and churches, has a goal to see

reproducing churches planted within reach of every inhabit of Central/Eastern Europe and the

former Soviet Union. To facilitate a church planting movement in the 15 countries of this vast

region they are mobilizing both mobile and resident training teams to serve as coaches and

catalysts to stir up and equip national church planting teams. Using this approach Alliance

training teams, in their first five years (1992-97) helped national church planters to plant almost

2,500 new churches (The Alliance Impact 1998)!

Second, is the Urban Resource Center Model. The Emmanuel Gospel Center in Boston,

directed by Dog and Judy Hall, is probably the best known example of this approach. This

nondenominational parachurch center has served as an “incubator” to jump-start over 25 new

churches in the metro area. It does so by graciously providing worship and office space for up to

four new congregations simultaneously, each being allowed to utilize the Center’s facilities for

up to two years. In addition Emmanuel serves as an urban resource center providing church

leaders with updated demographic research, an urban ministry library, urban consultants, office

and multimedia equipment, TEE training classes, summer interns, etc. Holistic “word and deed”

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outreach ministries also serve needy inner city residents, providing youth programs, food,

clothing, medical and legal assistance, biblical and financial counselors, and use of the gym

(Greenway, Model #6).

Third, is the School Church Planting Model. Over 21 years ago Francis Dubose, a Southern

Baptist urban missions professor, described how their Home Mission Board, in cooperation with

denominational seminaries and colleges, hired qualified students and teamed them up to start

new works during ten-week summer internships. Before leaving for the field, each outreach team

was “intensively trained and supervised in a number skills: surveying, personal witnessing,

Backyard Bible Clubs, putting on a public event such as a gospel concert, and conducting a

Home Fellowship Bible Class.” State conventions and/or local associations provided the

students’ local expenses, sponsored the new churches, and oversaw their weekly outreach

ministry. Dubose claims that one summer with over 160 students on the field about 80 permanent

new churches were started (1978, 138-40)!

Greenway reports that in Mexico City this school model was utilized all year round, sending

students into the slums, squatter settlements, and high rise apartments, and resulted in an

estimated 50 new churches planted, 45 surviving (1999, Model #5). The author is now directing a

similar church planting program, termed “Project Jerusalem,” out of Baptist Bible Seminary in

Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Men in the Master of Divinity program, with a concentration in

church planting, are required to do a one year internship and lead a new church start under the

director’s supervision. The core values of this innovative, fully-accredited program are: learning-

by-doing, imparting practical skills, and partnering with area local churches and mission

agencies.

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Fourth, is the Multi-Congregational Model. This strategy is particularly designed for

reaching many ethnic groups in a large heterogenous city. Daniel Sanchez, former evangelism

executive for the New York State Baptist Convention (SBC) first recommended this model for

churches in transitional communities (1976, 4-6; see also Wagner 1979, 159-161). Tetsunao

Yamamori most succinctly describes this “multiethnic mutually autonomous” church approach:

This is the model of autonomous ethnic churches cohabiting a single church

building. The ethnic churches, including an Anglo congregation, all contribute to

the “umbrella church” in finances, ministry, and governance. Each church has its

own congregation, pastor, and lay leaders. Periodically, all the components of the

umbrella church worship and engage in common ministries. Temple Baptist

Church in Los Angeles approximates this model with Anglo, Korean, and Spanish

congregations, as does Los Angeles First Church of the Nazarene, which includes

Anglo, Filipino, Korean, and Spanish. (1979, 178-9)

This strategic model is an excellent way to economically maximize use of a large facility in a

downtown setting, while planting new ethnic congregations at very low cost. It provides a

beautiful witness to an often ethnically divided community, attracting the unsaved. It allows the

body of believers to express their unity in Christ while at the same time recognizing and

appreciating the diversity of cultures each group represents. The best how-to advice for

implementing this urban model, while avoiding the potential cultural conflicts, is offered by Jerry

Appleby, pastor of a multi-congregational Nazarene church in Pasadena (1990).

Fifth, is the Base-Satellite Church Model. This strategic plan calls for a large urban mega

church surrounded by numerous house churches multiplying into every neighborhood of the city.

Frank Allen describes how the Christian Missionary Alliance has targeted ten key cities using

this approach. The house churches serve as “the primary focus of fellowship, witness, and

Christian instruction.” The satellite house groups are smaller subsidiary units of the larger mother

congregation which may or may not have its own larger permanent building. In international

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cities where property is very expensive and difficult to find, public facilities could be

occasionally rented for large celebrative worship services, for “periodic conventions and

campaigns, and the united witness to the evangelical faith.” A few medium-sized permanent-

building churches could be “located in key areas of the city” to provide for weekly “training of

laymen [leaders] for their ministry elsewhere, for Midweek classes, and services every night”

(Allen 1986, 12). Dubose gives five advantages of this model:

(1) most any church can develop this style; (2) it offers a balance of impact

(through the base) and penetration (through the home meetings); (3) it offers in

one model the advantages of the larger church (base) and the smaller church

(satellite); (4) it satisfies the more traditional desires (base) and the more

innovative (satellite); (5) with its mobile and more secular expressions, it is

indigenous to urban life. It is an international model which is proving to be oe of

the fastest and most effective means of church growth. (1978, 143)

Currently, this cell-based church approach is called the “Meta Church Model” (see George

1992) and is producing the largest churches in the world, mostly overseas. The key for growth is

the continuous intensive training of old and new leaders for the ever-multiplying cell group. The

best known example of this strategic approach would be Paul Yonggi Cho’s Yoido Full Gospel

Central Church in Seoul, Korea with over 650,000 members (Cho 1984).

Each of these urban church planting models has its own inherent strengths and weaknesses.

Each might be appropriate in a given urban context. While each model deserves careful study we

must always beware of superimposing one mission’s (or church’s) success story upon another.

Our goal, as we compare fruitful urban models, must be to identify reproducible structures and

principles. It would be incorrect to assume that to achieve the same urban success we must

imitate a favorite model strategy exactly. We may well imitate a particular strategic model for a

while but only in order to discover the universal principles which may also apply to our urban

situation. Then we must do the hard work of designing our own strategic plan and specific

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outreach program based upon the universal principles which fit our urban context, philosophy of

ministry, biblical convictions, and individual/group resources.

Fifteen Principles

Based upon the author’s twenty-five years of urban ministry – most of it in cross-cultural

church planting and leadership development – the following principles for planning effective

urban church planting strategies are proposed. They are drawn not only from personal

observation and experience but from the study of dozens of other urban strategic models.

1. Pursue projects and plants with potential. Urban work is always risky and we cannot

afford to fail too often. We must select carefully those plants and projects with the most

promise for success. Our resources are not unlimited and in most evangelical circles will dry

up if we fail repeatedly. I agree with the suggestion of a CBA Urban Coordinator, Mark

Marchak that as church planting opportunities present themselves, our involvement should be

“determined by the convergence of six factors: need, opportunity, burden, strategy, personnel

and resources” (1989, 37).

2. Focus on multiplying ethnic churches and groups. Currently 75 million Americans are

“people of color” – almost one out of three. There are over 500 distinct ethnic groups in

America. According to Southern Baptist researchers these language and cultural “people

groups” communicate in 636 languages and dialects, 26 of these “major languages.” Because

the vase majority of these ethnic masses reside in urban areas, it is imperative we give

priority to cross-cultural church starts. Evangelical church groups experiencing significant

growth today credit this to their bridge-building and outreach among U.S. minorities ( Romo

1999, 18-30). We must recognize the truth of McGavran’s observation: people worship best

and more readily receive the gospel in the language of their heart.

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3. Give priority to recruiting and training ethnic leaders. The number of minorities in

leadership roles in most evangelical groups is still far too small. It reflects not only our

indifference but a glaring weakness in many urban ministries. Cross-cultural church planters

are yet needed in many pioneering urban ministries but even the best will have limited

impact. Ethnic leaders will be far more effective in starting new congregations. If one

minority leader can be won and discipled that often is the key to entrance into that whole

community.

4. Utilize bivocational ministers, leaders and co-workers. The cost of paying full salaries

plus benefits to all church planters and team members is prohibitive. If we are to meet our

urban goals and maximize our opportunities, we must greatly increase the number of church

planters and assistants by encouraging many to consider “tentmaking” options. This also cuts

down on “deputation” travels.

5. Discover, develop, and deploy many unpaid lay leaders. New church starts do not always

require the direct involvement of “professionals.” That is evident from the start up of the

Antioch church. We will never have enough full-time missionaries. Training lay leaders must

become a priority. To accomplish this goal we will need to promote urban TEE programs,

local church based evening Bible institutes, distance learning and other innovative training

methodologies. Teams of gifted laymen and women must be mobilized, empowered,

released, supervised and given much moral support. This cuts our costs tremendously.

6. Seek to cluster urban churches in order to build ministry partnerships. Spinning off

nearby new congregations from an already established new work – rather than starting our

next church across town – has real benefits. Leaders and congregants can encourage one

another during times of public celebration. As the number of new churches grow it is

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profitable for emerging churches to gather with the parenting congregations and the church

planting teams for periodic “pep rallies” to review what God has done and to affirm new

outreach goals. This gives new converts in the smaller churches a sense of belonging to a

cause larger than their own fellowship! A consortium of churches can also pool resources and

give us a platform to share successful strategies and outreach ideas. We must stress that

Scripture teaches the interdependence as well as the independence of local churches. Church

associations and ministry partnerships are needed today if we are going to greatly impact

large urban areas for Christ.

7. Focus on responsive urban people groups. Over 35 years ago Donald McGavran

articulated this as one of his “eight keys” for impacting cities (1970, 322-31). Failure to

recognize the resistant and unresponsive groups will often lead us into further

discouragement and fruitlessness. How does one identify those who are likely to accept the

Gospel? We must find those going though personal and social change. People in transition –

the recently immigrated or moved, the uprooted, displaced, divorced, separated; those who

have recently married, had a baby, lost a loved one, or lost a job – these will often be open to

the message of hope in Christ.

8. Develop empowering holistic ministries. Because of the startling growth of poverty in

many of our world’s great cities, urban Christian ministries must be responding

compassionately yet discerningly. We must address felt needs as well as ultimate (spiritual)

needs. Roger Greenway has wisely pointed out that our well-intentioned “word and deed”

ministries of relief can often create dependency. Quoting the familiar Chinese proverb that if

you teach a man how to fish you relieve his need for many years to come, he recommends

“development rather than benevolence” as “the route to take” (1989, 51-2). This offers the

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poor the opportunity to earn a living rather than a handout! Good examples of American

evangelicals engaged in biblically balanced inner city ministries of evangelistic church

planting as well as social reform are Keith Phillips/World Impact (1975) and John Perkins

(see his With Justice For All and Beyond Charity).

9. Build people before property. In the past the conventional wisdom was that in order to have

a growing church, the new fellowship needed its own facility as soon as possible. A building

would attract people. That is seldom true today. Because of the increasing costs of property

and construction, it would be far better to use a rented meeting hall as long as possible. Better

to focus on reaching and discipling people than constructing a building. Those who fall into

that trap often commit two errors: they build too soon and they build too small! They are

soon locked into a choking indebtedness and a site soon outgrown. The rule of thumb is: a

church building is the result of increased church growth not the cause of it! Numerous new

church plants today affirm that, most popularly, Rick Warren at Saddleback.

10. Plan for multiple use of facilities. This balances out the former principle. Eventually many

new congregations will need to have their own building. Whether rented or owned, any

facility acquired by a church should be multi-purpose in nature to allow for maximum

ministry to the community throughout the week. Consider sharing your building with another

new ethnic or language congregation to cut cost.

11. Nurture self-sufficiency rather than patronizing dependency. Ray Bakke contends

“mission agencies perpetuate dependent ministries through the way they finance them” (

1987, 48). I agree. To implement this principle we must insist on each new church becoming

self-supporting within a specified reasonable time frame. Outside subsidy should be provided

up front to help launch the new work. But once the new church’s income exceeds her basic

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expenses (for rent, salary, outreach, etc.), we must negotiate a graduated cut back of outside

support. The church panting team is expected to teach biblical stewardship principles right

from the start. No church is too poor to support its pastor. It only takes ten tithing families.

The new church should be expected to be increasing its participation in the support of her

pastor once or twice a year . Each new congregation should be encouraged o join with local

clusters of established churches as a full partner, contributing to the ongoing church planting

movement.

12. Teach “Natural Church Development” principles of church growth. To help new

churches reach their full growth potential, we must help their leaders understand and apply

what Christian Schwarz calls “natural” or “biotic” principles. Schwarz has conducted the

most comprehensive study ever on the true causes of church growth – more than 1,000

churches in 32 countries were surveyed. He advocates dumping what he calls “technocratic

thinking” (human success programs common in many church growth circles) and following

the laws of organic growth or “God’s growth automatisms.” Schwarz has isolated eight

“quality characteristics” of growing churches: empowering leadership, gift-oriented ministry,

passionate spirituality, functional structures, inspiring worship services, holistic small groups,

need-oriented evangelism and loving relationships. He sums up his findings: “No church

wanting to grow qualitatively and quantitatively can afford to overlook any one of these eight

quality characteristics” (1996, 15-36, 38).

13. Build numerous stronger small churches rather than one megachurch. Schwarz’s

international research has now validated two surprising conclusions regarding very large

churches. First, megachurches (1,000 or more in worship) actually win fewer new people to

Christ than minichurches (if we look at growth rates). Second, with increasing church size

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there is normally diminished church quality. This fact should lead us as urban leaders to focus

our new churches on qualitative rather than quantitative growth goals. As Schwarz has

observed, “Our research shows that the lack of quantitative growth in most cases indicates a

qualitative problem. Increased worship attendance is not the ultimate ‘goal’, with everything

else being a means to an end; it is the natural by-product of improved quality” (1996, 44-48).

This means that in order to best impact the largest number of urban people we must focus on

starting many growing, reproducing, quality biblical churches in our cities.

14. Expect and teach reproduction. In order to maximize impact in an urban setting we must

diligently train our workers to multiply their ministries. If the newly planted urban church is

healthy it should eventually reproduce. This is a divine principle. In all of creation living

healthy organism do not keep growing indefinitely; they bring forth other organisms which in

turn also multiply. Just as individual believers are “born to reproduce” so every corporate

body should be expected to intentionally start new churches (planned parenthood!). This also

holds true within every ministry of the urban church – we should expect to see the

multiplication of small groups, of group leaders, of resources, etc. When planning an urban

strategy of outreach and discipleship this most basic of all of scriptural principles –

reproduction – must be built in to all that we do.

15. Rely on the superintending and empowering work of the Holy Spirit. To build an urban

ministry that will have lasting impact – for time and eternity – we must recognize the Spirit’s

crucial role. Ultimately we must realize only the Living Christ can grow His church and build

His Kingdom (Matt. 16:18; I Cor. 3:6). Human ingenuity and effort alone will not.

Consciously working in the power of the Holy Spirit means saturating all of our strategic

planning in prayer, incorporating biblical (supernatural) principles of growth, preaching

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Christ crucified and arisen, and gratefully giving Him all the credit when lives are

transformed or churches are established. God’s urban work must be done in God’s way to

experience His full blessing. Above all else, to see the Spirit’s blessing, we must seek to

serve Christ in the city for the right reason: to see His glory displayed among the nations

(people groups) in the city.

Conclusion

These fifteen strategic planning principles will enable us to steer a clear course through the

rocks and reefs of man’s urban agendas, to finding God’s agenda for our particular city. While

certainly not exhaustive, these guidelines, if properly applied in each of our urban settings, would

enable us to arrive at a biblically balanced and effective strategy for reaching our city for Christ.

Minimum components of this comprehensive plan would certainly include evangelism (reaching

urbanites with the gospel), discipleship (helping converts grow in Christ), incorporation

(integrating disciples into new churches), social action (attention to human needs), and

multiplication (enabling individuals, ministries, and churches to reproduce themselves).

Underpinning all of this is the crucial and significant role of the local church in an effective

urban strategy.

Before launching or expanding any urban ministry, it is vitally important, to take the time to

draw up a long range and somewhat detailed strategy (battle) plan. Urban pastors, missionaries,

and Christian leaders must “do their homework,” seeking the mind of God, exegeting both

scripture as well as their city. Since we cannot go in every direction at once we must establish

priority areas in the city to target. Normally these would be the most unchurched areas/peoples,

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the most responsive, and those most strategically influential. Once these priorities have been

settled we can concentrate our manpower and resources where they will count the most.

Of course, our originally conceived strategy will be somewhat theoretical. Once the ministry

is launched we will obviously need to make a number of adjustments to our initial plans. Yet if

biblical principles are truly undergirding our strategy, we can move forward with humble

confidence that it will succeed. We can be assured Christ is building His Church today!

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